Show No Mercy

I liked a bunch of records this year. Likewise, there are more than a few (tons) I listened to and (a) hated, (b) forgot, (c) rememered and wished I hadn't. Below are the albums I listened to over and over (and over) and that left the biggest impression. I did my best to ignore any group think and, instead, simply ranked the records according to how much I liked (loved) them. I also asked a bunch of folks to pass along their lists because, as suspected, none of us liked exactly the same things in equal measure.

__ 01. Nachtmystium: * Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt. 1 * [Century Media] __
With * Assassins * , Chicagoans Nachtmystuim-- led by Blake Judd-- completed their transformation from Darkthrone and Emperor devotees to something much bigger. It started, most clearly, on 2006's e-bowed * Instinct: Decay * , but on * Assassins, * from the Pink Floyd-nodding opener to the extended three-part "Seasick" finale, Nachtmystium took their post-black metal to someplace more powerfully anthemic, crusty, and straight-up catchy than ever before. The perfectly paced instrumental interludes create a tension before the various explosions (even the saxophone makes sense). Songs like "Your True Enemy" and "Assassins" are unstoppable rock songs with real hooks and atmosphere to spare. I said much of what I thought about the record when I __ reviewed it __ . It already sounds like a classic.

Since he's at the No. 1 spot, I asked Blake Judd to comment on the record:

" * Assassins * was a turning point for the band in terms of sound production, songwriting, and taking our ideas to another level. Thanks to the assistance of [producer] Sanford Parker and [drummer] Tony Laureano, we were able to fully realize our intentions and transcribe that into a record that we're all very proud of and can stand behind 100%. I think it's fantastic that the response was strong and supportive, and we find the most pleasing aspect to be that people either love it or hate it...I always thought it was better to get a 10 out of 10 or a 1 out of 10, as opposed to falling somewhere in the middle. This record pleased and angered a lot of people, and thats a sign to me that we're doing something right."

If you haven't made up your mind, you can hear some tracks at Nachtmystium's __ MySpace __ .

__ 02. Torche: * Meanderthal * [Hydra Head] __
Steve Brooks' approach to stoner rock's always included hooks, only nothing as pronounced, polished, or immediately addictive as the 13 tracks comprising Torche's second full-length: If radio wasn't a wasteland * Meanderthal * would cross over -- it's precision pop. People have described the Miami band as the Melvins chewing bubblegum, but on "Healer" or "Grenades" they sound more like a sludgy, doom-y Superchunk (or, at times, a non-suck Foo Fighters). The album's still plenty knotty and heavy (see opener "Triumph Of Venus" if you want technical guitar riffs), but it also features some of the best hooks of the year in any genre. Last time I spoke with Brooks he worked in a pizza shop. If there's any justice in this world, that's changed.

__ 03. Krallice: * Krallice * [Profound Lore] __
Folks were initially cautious when they heard guitar whiz Mick Barr and Dysrhythmia's Colin Marston were starting a black metal band. Those naysayers had no way of guessing that NYC's Krallice would concoct the most technically sick and epic USBM album of the year (and the best of its sort since Weakling's * Dead As Dreams * ). More surprising, Barr not only shreds on his guitar, his voice is pitch-perfect for the sounds swirling around him (the build-ups and release can, at times, feel very post-hardcore). One thing I love about USBM is its rejection of standards set by European forbears: As Krallice (and Bloody Panda) drummer Lev Weinstein said when the band stopped by SNM, "Wearing corpse paint would give him ' __ douche chills __ ' ."

__ 04. Leviathan: * Massive Conspiracy Against All Life * [Moribund/Debemur Morti] __
Xasthur's recent work's been less than stellar, but no worries: Amongst the higher-profile one-man USBM acts, fellow West Coaster Jef Whitehead, aka Wrest, has created his strongest album to date (and that's saying a lot, he's prolific). * Massive Conspiracy * has a huge blackened sound, crunchy riffs, and kick-ass drumming. It's an intense blend of warped atmospher­ics, death riffs, huge drums, and a warbling, at times throaty, Eastern­ tinged howl.

__ 05. Dead Congregation: * Graves of the Archangels * [Nuclear War Now!] __
From gigantic instrumental opener "Martyrdoom" to the rapidfire drums and guitar pyrotechnics of "Teeth Into Red", this Greek quartet created a dark, heavy, atmospheric, and bleak collection of old-school death metal on * Graves of the Archangels * . It's technical, but not too noodly. It's heavy, but still melodic. During the choral moments on the title track you feel like you're stuck in a tomb. And did I mention A.V.'s brutal, guttural crypt keeper growl? This is not overproduced or too glossy-- no wanking, no gimmicks.

__ 06. Enslaved: * Vertebrae * [Nuclear Blast] __
Despite * Ruun * , I thought I was a tad tired of Enslaved ... and then the Norwegians released * Vertebrae * , a smeary, tightly composed collection of progressive psychedelic post-black metal. It's the band's 10th album in 17 years, but * Vertebrae * 's possessed with the upward-swinging urgency of youth. Showcasing their experience, the collection's layered and dense (shimmery keyboards, clean and catchy vocals dueting with a raw black metal rasp, some full-on Pink Floyd via "Ground" and etc), but never weighed down. In the era of the MP3, * Vertebrae * -- so composed and intermingling -- is a perfect example of why you need to listen to a great record from start to finish.

__ 07. Hammers of Misfortune: * Fields * / * Church of Broken Glass * [Profound Lore] __
San Francisco's Hammers of Misfortune are the brainchild of John Cobbett and they've proven to be one the most ambitious and satisfying underground metal crews in recent years. * Fields * and * Church of Broken Glass * are two very different full-lengths packaged together. It's flowery, pastoral, thematic, vintage, sprawling. I __ spoke at length __ with Cobbett about it not long ago.

__ 08. Wold: * Stratification * [Profound Lore] __
I've enjoyed all of the Sasketchewan group's albums but on their third, * Stratification * , Fortress Crookedjaw and Obey tore apart the structures completely, creating a chilling mix of noise and black metal that refuses to concede to either genre. If you think it's just static, read back over __ our conversation __ to see how well-plotted this white-out of crackling feedback and snowbound black metal was (and is).

__ 09. Disfear: __ * __ Live the Storm __ * __ [Relapse] __
The classic, crusty Swedish hardcore D-beat crew Disfear formed in 1989, but listening to the fury and energy of their most recent, Kurt Ballou-produced sixth album * Live the Storm * , you'd assume the guys were energized newbies. Legendary death metal vocalist Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates), who joined the band with 2003's * Misanthropic Generation * , takes the helm again, and from the slippery slide guitar of "Get It Off" through "Phantom", his raspy yowl is both political and pure pleasure, creating one hell of an unrelenting, anthemic album. We had __ a talk __ about it.

__ 10. Cynic: * Traced in Air * [Season of Mist] __
Reunion albums can blow up in a band's face, but these legendary progressive jazz-infused Miami technical death metallers returned with their first album since 1993's * Focus * and killed it. You could easily say it's a smoother fusion of the elements that made them groundbreaking in the first place (albeit, lighter on the death). What they're doing doesn't sound as forward-thinking as it did 15 years ago, but * Traced in Air * is a tight and (bear with me) elegant and moving mesh of their strengths. At 34 minutes, it's a jam-packed, carefully orchestrated King Crimson-style tone poem.

I should add: One of the biggest surprises of the year for me was Darkthrone's * Dark Thrones and Black Flags * . I liked * F.O.A.D. * ok, but * this * ! This is one hell of a strange and compelling blackened punk collection. And those riffs...

It's exciting for me to note that some of my favorite bands from this past year are playing the first official Show No Mercy live event at Public Assembly in Brooklyn. Last time around I mentioned a "surprise guest." This time I unveil the surprise as Nachtmystium, who released my no.1 album of 2008, along with Velnias, Javelina, Bloody Panda, and Malkuth. You can get all the details you need at __ Public Assembly __ . Hope to see you there. It's Nachtmystium's one area show for a long while.

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Here are the lists from various others. If they didn't include numbers, I kept them numberless.

Shining didn't release anything this year but I've been listening to their reissues most of all. Everything by them. Most black metal hasn't got beyond the entertaining cultural references found in the interviews-- listening to the releases is usually completely beside the point. Shining and the suicide obsessives being the most obvious exceptions. I find myself adopting a rentboy interest in these bands. And it occurs to me that the contempt for the audience that Iggy displays in the live shows that make up the WTFS box sets is what I would like to find more of in the always youthful BM spreads. They'll catch on. Makes paying attention worth your time. I'm not surprised, for example, to see more and more of these kids turning to self-abuse and sex-obsessed noise as replacements for their corpse paint and Baphomet T-shirts.

Seeing Suffocation completely exceeded my expectations: crushing sound, heavy guitar chops, the gruffest voice this side of Obituary, technical leads, it was all there. The bonus round of awesomeness: between songs I shouted out a request for "Infecting the Crypts" and lead singer Frank Mullen instantly goes, "This next one is...'Infecting the Crypts'." Thanks dude!

Nortt's album * Galgenfrist * has been my companion late at night while trawling through the archives of Renaissance melancholy. Icy blasts of Danish miserabilism from the land of Vilhelm Hammershoi.

Grief live at the Nowarehouse in Baltimore was a ridiculously sweaty slow-motion-moshpit experience at a fun punk house complete with halfpipe. I'm glad that they got to play their anthem "Depression" (the first song they ever wrote!) before the cops came and stopped the show. The man * can * bust our sadness.

I know it came out a while back, but I just discovered Catacombs' * In the Depths of R'lyeh * and it made the perfect soundtrack to a pitchblack night drive across the Czech Republic during this summer's Matmos tour. Beats that wretched * Cthulhu * movie with Tori Spelling hands-down for best recent Lovecraft cash-in.

Trancelike Void's * Destroying Something Beautiful * . Striking fear in god-warriors everywhere, TV are fence-riders on the boundary between black metal and shoegaze. I dock points for sampling * Fight Club * dialogue (too soon), but there's something inevitable and right about this particular cross-pollination on a textural level.

Five Cool Noise/Experimental Records in no particular order:

When Kevin Drumm's * Imperial Distortion * 2xCD comes on the stereo and fixes its bedroom eyes on you and starts making its moves with glacially slow determination, you will find yourself totally immobilized and helpless. And you'll love it. If you want more intuitive scrape and creak and sticky resin in your oatmeal, you'll find sustenance in the Sejayno * Sedainty * LP, featuring all manner of batshit hoot and friendly holler from instrument building wunderkind Peter Blasser and company. For a peppier waltz through an asteroid belt of post-musique-concrete hijinks, take shelter in Mitchell Brown's * Celadonia * CD, and while you're checking out Melon Expander records try the combination of Thomas Dimuzio and Joseph Hammer, working together as Dimmer. High-tech but not slick, if you know what I mean, Dimmer's * The Shining Path * CD folds extra-dimensional drones into each other with double-jointed dexterity, and the planes keeps sliding in and out of the corner of your ears.